Students readjust after break

Story by Kathryn Kriss

It’s that time of the year again where students must bid goodbye to long hours in cozy beds and Mom’s cooking and return to the library.

Spring semester, usually recognized as the busier and more stressful semester, has begun, and students have to buckle down to work again.

After a long six weeks of working, traveling or relaxing with friends, classes have once again become the main priority.

Syllabus week has different connotations for everybody — some jump headfirst into the material, while some consider finally buying their books.

After the addition of J-term, semesters were slightly shortened.

This caused the beginning of the semester to move faster, and syllabus week to become more serious.

Many students marvel at the differences in amount of homework between classes, and some find themselves unprepared to adjust to a new routine.

The least perturbed students were those who took J-term classes and didn’t have to make much of a transition.

“I’ve been in school mode for the last three weeks,” said senior biochemistry, cell and molecular biology major Alex Generous.

The main difference is that instead of worrying about only one class, he now has to manage multiple.

He’s determined to let things play out, confident that he’ll find his pace. After all, “It’s just syllabus week.”

Sophomore pre-pharmacy major Katrina Zerwas, on the other hand, prefers to stay ahead.

“I like to jump right in because that’s what professors do, and I want to get things started on the right foot,” Zerwas said.

She finds reading syllabi and making calenders and schedules keeps her organized and prevents slacking.

Enthusiastic about starting the new semester, Zerwas also thinks that starting in the spring is more difficult than starting in the fall, saying it’s “harder to go outside and go to class when it’s cold.”

Junior Elexandria Nouchanthavong disagrees.

“It’s probably harder to start fall semester because you’re off for a longer time, where with winter break you’re still kind of used to the schedule,” Nouchanthavong said.

Nouchanthavong worked over break, so she was no stranger to waking up to an alarm every morning. Her biggest challenge now, and one that most students face, is trying to juggle a course load and a part-time job.

Syllabus week has acted as a buffer to help get accustomed to the daily grind of school.

Freshman international relations major Arianna Gastelum doesn’t think it feels real yet.

Without much classwork or homework over syllabus week, she doesn’t feel much of a change from winter break.

“I’ll probably feel it in a couple of weeks, once classes get past the syllabus phase and we have our first tests,” Gastelum said.

Hubbell Dining Hall and Olmsted Center are once again packed with students sipping coffee, and the brave few venture out in the cold to the library.

Starting the spring semester after a relaxing break is never easy, but Drake students seem ready to buckle down and get to work.